In U.S. Pat. No. 3,921,443, assigned to the same assignee as the present invention, there is described a testing device for measuring the quality of human hair by placing the hair under tension and measuring the tensile force required to elongate the hair by a predetermined amount, namely, 10% elongation. The tester as described in the patent also measures the total elongation present when the hair is stretched to the breaking point. The present invention is directed to an improved tester of the type described in the above-identified patent. In particular, the present invention provides a tester which is simpler to operate, which is more easily calibrated, and provides more consistent results. The present invention provides a fully digitized system for detecting and indicating the tensile force and percentage elongation of the test sample.